Bong Joon-Ho’s Next Film After Parasite? Actually, There Are Two

Bong Joon-Ho’s Next Film After Parasite? Actually, There Are Two

Bong Joon-ho’s next film after Parasite might be one of two films. The celebrated director said after his momentous Oscar wins that he’s working on one film in English, and another film in Korean.

Bong said backstage Sunday night that he’s going right back to work after winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Film and Best Original Screenplay for Parasite.

“I have to work, it’s my job,” he said through his translator, Sharon Choi. “So I’ve been working for the past 20 years, and regardless what happened at Cannes and Oscars, I had been working on two projects before then, I’m continuing to work on them, nothing has changed because of these awards. One is in Korean and one is in English.”

The backstage detail came in a People story noting that Choi is launching her own screenwriting career, after spending lots of time this awards season translating for Bong.

Bong famously said, when Parasite won the Golden Globe for best foreign-language film: “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

And Bong overcame a huge barrier himself — and for all foreign-language films — when Parasite became the first foreign-language film ever to win a Best Picture Oscar.

It’s notable that only one of his two current projects will require viewers to overcome that tiny barrier. And all of Bong Joon-ho’s next films will no doubt draw far more attention thanks to his Oscar success.

Bong has released movies in English before: Snowpiercer (2013) was primarily in English, and Okja (2017) was in English and Korean.

His other films include The Host, Sea Fog and Mother, which will also no doubt receive renewed — and well-deserved — attention in light of his big night Sunday. That one-inch barrier doesn’t look so tall anymore.